Since the introduction of video games during the 1900s, it has been rather questionable what the use of them for children in terms of education. It would not be too exaggerating to say that video games are widely believed to be merely for recreation, especially in Thailand. Despite some existing interactive computer games for children in their early childhood, most Thai parents and educators tend to view those video games, regardless of being online or offline, as a waste of time and money. Yet, they are not prohibited, though some curfews for those under age of 18 to play the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs), and it seems that children are rather prone to be addicted to them. Furthermore, there are a good number of researchers in education and games development, particularly outside Thailand, conducting research in order to investigate the relationship between computer games and education. According to Gee (2003), many people have to expose themselves to the idea of learning from ‘good’ computer and video games. He also proposes that games and game technologies can be used to enhance learning. Steinhuehler (2007) then proves that there are indeed literacy practices in MMORPGs. She even claims that MMORPGs are not simply replacing literacy practices, but rather they are the literacy practices, at least in their context. This perspective is supported by Sarsar (2008). He finds that there is a huge amount of learning occurring when children play video games, though their negative effects are also realised. One major negative effect seems to be the game addiction. There are also a number of recent research, particularly in Thailand, on factors and tendency of such addition. However, Sarsar insists that, as a... ... middle of paper ... ... MMORPGs. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/ ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/3e/19/63.pdf Steinkuehler, C.A. (2007). Massively multiplayer online gaming as a constellation of literacy practices. E-Learning, 4(3). 297-318. Supaket, P., Munsawaengsub, C., Nanthamongkolchai, S., & Apinuntavetch, S. (2008). Factors affecting computer game addiction and mental health of male adolescents in Mueang district, Si Sa Ket province. Journal of Public Health, 38(3). 317-330. Wongsothorn, A., Hiranburana, K. & Chinnawongs, S. (2002). English language teaching in Thailand today. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 22(2). 107-116. Yochanung, T. (2007). A study of factors affecting game addiction among children and juveniles in Bangkok: Case study in Bangkok Noi and Bangkok Yai district. Unpublished thesis, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
For many years, many people have linked the increased violent and aggressive behavior in teenagers and children to violent video games for two main reasons. Video games are very addictive and gamers can become very violent and aggressive when someone tells them to stop playing and can spark the violence in people who already have aggressive behavior. Such examples of violence addictions were in the cases of Daniel Petric and a thirteen-year old that were very addictive to video games and had already aggressive behavior. Seventeen year old Daniel murdered his mother, Susan Petric, “after she being denied him access to Halo 3” (Massoud). If that didn’t sound horrifying, a “13-year-old boy murdered an 81-year-old for money to fund his online gaming addiction” (Massoud). We can’t deny the fact that these two cases of game addiction prove the argument, but everyone should ask themselves these questions. If parents did know about the viole...
Video games are electronic sports which involves user interface and user interactivity. They generate a visual response which helps to provide excitement and entertainment. Video games are played on computers, televisions, or any kind of device with a display screen. People play video games for fun and also because some games are more productive and useful. With growth in technology video games have become very popular in children. Those games can be informative and a brain-builder for children but at the same time it may be so violent that they not only become the reason for the children to be destructive but also vigorously increase anti-social behavior.
Presently, video games aren’t merely toys that negatively influence the youth. They have become an alternative means for people to learn and train for work. Games teach values and essential information, and motivate its players to achieve goals. Soldiers and doctors benefit from video games as well. The collaboration of game developers and educators helps improve the quality of educational games. At present, as technology progresses, one can truly see that video games have become an important factor in learning.
Since the Early 70’s video games have been giving a bad name. Parents state that video games rot the minds of children and are influencing them do be violent. These accusations are far from the truth. In my research I found that there are many positive effects of gaming. Some of these effects are increased skills, creativity, general knowledge, and also help those in need. Parents can also take proper precautions and look into a game before buying it to see if it meets the criteria discussed in this paper.
The average adolescent spends a major part of the normal week watching or interacting with some form of the media’s products. Video games are one of these media based mediums and have become increasingly popular since the 1980’s. According to a report in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, "Female gamers spent an average of 44 minutes playing on the weekdays and one hour and four minutes playing on the weekends, and male gamers spent an average of 58 minutes playing on the weekdays and one hour and 37 minutes playing on the weekends" ("Video Game Play Among Adolescents"). What can we understand from this evidence? The fact is that adolescents, male or female, are spending tremendous amounts of time each day sitting in front of a screen with a controller in hand.
American educational philosopher John Dewey once said, “ Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” Education is the foundation of a permanent lifestyle. Parents should desire for their children to have educational stability to build upon. Any concerned parent should want nothing but the best for their child as they are well aware of the new forms of child entertainment. Since the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, children in the United States have become subject to a new type of entertainment: video gaming (Nickson, 2010). Video games have become a big part of the average American household. Parents have begun to wonder how video games are affecting their children’s lifestyles.
Video games have been around about 50 years and they contribute a big part of the U.S. economy. People interact with video games every day throughout different ways, such as cell phone devices, computers, consoles or whatever which has a screen on it. In fact, it has always affected people’s lives. However, not so many people understand the benefits of video games. With video games, people can not only relieve themselves from stress and suffering, but it also improves people’s social experiences while they are exchanging and absorbing knowledge with other people; more than that, people can learn many other things from video games which can help them to achieve great things in lives.
Tamsyn, Burgmann. "GAMING ADDICTION A GROWING CONCERN." Record, The (Kitchener/Cambridge/Waterloo, ON) n.d.: Canadian Reference Centre. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Controversies over video games are focused on video game content and the potential for it to negatively impact player attitude and behavior. Since the early 1980s, video games have become part of the political debates with lawyers claiming that video games are harmful for society, protected under the freedom of speech. Hundreds of video game studies have been executed by a wide range of psychologists and government agencies with the aim of addressing the issue of harm. These studies have targeted possible links to addiction, aggression, violence, social development, stereotyping and sexual morality issues. These studies have been followed up by different analyzations.
Several years ago, technology and child’s play were not such as extremely developed as today. Thousands of teenagers have video game as their primary form of entertainment at home. The disagreement about violent video games is because they focus on several subjects such as violence scenes, pornographic content, racism and other resources. For many years, researchers have been debating if video games can cause dependence or not. However, an expert, Jack Flanagan believes video games have a really negative effect on a person’s life and even for children. Jack states that video game addiction exists, and can have the same effects as drugs and alcohol (Netzley 36-37). This shows that video game addiction can be like other addictions
Schrader, P., and Michael McCreery. "The Acquisition Of Skill And Expertise In Massively Multiplayer Online Games." Educational Technology Research & Development 56.5/6 (2008): 557-574. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.
The concept of “edutainment”- the hybrid of education and entertainment has existed almost as long as video games have. Evidence of this is The Oregon Trail, a game about the colo...
Video games are not considered as a serious addiction amongst teenagers and adults, often being compared to severe cases of addiction, such as drug abuse or alcohol abuse that may result in the appearance of a decrease in the severity of the addiction. However, video game addiction is a serious matter and has unhealthy consequences for an individual 's life and their health; spending too much time playing video games can take a great toll on one 's physical and mental well-being. Continuing unhealthy patterns of video game activity for prolonged periods of time can result in mental health issues, physical health problems, and a decline in a social life.
As the time passes, technology is expanding and developing many creative ideas. Unlike in the past, nowadays we have computers, TVs, internet, and many inventions that have bad and good effects on us. Children used to interact with society by hanging out and playing sports with each other, but now we can see a big percentage of children who play video games for many hours daily. Addiction controls the lives of people, there is addiction to drugs, cigarettes, alcohol or gambling, and there are some forms of addiction associated with modern life, such as the Internet and video games. Most people think that video games are harmful and a waste of time.
The playing of online games impacts teenage gamers socially, educationally, ethically and psychologically on teenagers. This issue involves numerous stake holders. They are mainly teenagers, parents, friends, policeman, and the game company.